Sonny posted on his myspace back on Jan 16th that the hernia operation was a success, and that the doctors would be consulting him about his Hip replacement surgery. I doubt that he's had that yet, so he'll be playing in pain. He thanked us, by the way, for our Love and Support. Here is that post, verbatim:

January 16, 2009 - Friday

Sonnys day today. I am so blessed with friendship!
Current mood: blessed

Today the color brown is looking pretty bright. Thank you my friends. The Browncoats have sent me so many notes that my grand daughter has run out of her printing ink and will have to get some more today. I am slowly reading every note and she and my Annie are helping me with this myspace. I am getting the idea behind it. I am also enjoy seeing some of my friends I haven't seen for awhile. This myspace is okay.
Thank you my dear friend Nancy for the joke. It made me laugh right out!

My friend Brian [Brian Wiser, from Done The Impossible ] has started all this help and support and I will certainly be
talking more about him. Bless you my man. You are remarkable. Thank you for some peace of mind.

And Tano ' Hi my good man'. Thank you, for all the things you do for us. We will see you soon.

I know that people say all the time that they love their fans.
Sonny Rhodes has a heart full of love for all of you! I truely do! I am very blessed and know that even more as I read your letters.
It is taking me awhile. That's a lot of reading but I will get to each one.

I am getting around a little better after the hernia surgery. Now Annie is
on the phone asking the doctors to give me a date as soon as they can for
the hip surgeries. I know some people have said I am stubborn and maybe
that is some true. But I have put this off because I wanted to get to all my
shows. I just have a hard time stopping the music. As I tell you, "I do what
I love and love what I do". My music is my love to all of you, my wife
Annie, my dear friends and my fans. So I want to get this taken care of so I
don't miss being out there with you. I have always worked since I was a small
boy and I like to take good care of my family.

Now that the hernia is fixed I realize how much the hips hurt! By this
time next year I am told it will just me a memory. Thank goodness I can sit
to play my guitar some.

At a show a while back I was apologizing for needing to sit. Someone yelled
out. "Mr. Rhodes, we don't care if you sit or stand, just play us your
music!" Everyone clapped and hollered in agreement. That was a fine
feeling.

My grand daughters, Annie and friends will help me keep in touch with you
and let you know how this hip thing is going. I am not going to let it get
me down for long.
Thank you from the very bottom of my heart for all your support, prayers and
donations.

Thank you for posting that, TD. I don't gush, but that was a joy to read; and everyone who contributed to Mr. Rhodes's well-being - you all are amazing. A lovely example of how we can be brought closer together. Cheers.

Other than the theme song, I'm not familiar with Mr. Rhodes' work. But any man who will sit through the pain of a hernia and bad hips just to bring the music he loves to the fans who love his music...is aces in my book.

I wish I could help monetarily, but I'm beyond broke right now. So my good thoughts and "get well soon!" vibes will have to suffice.

Joss Whedon doesn't work with less-than-geniuses, and Mr. Rhodes fits right in. There is so much emotion in those 50 seconds of the theme song, and it's true emotion. You feel the hope and determination.

I think at least a couple people from the SoCal board were there (1 for sure). He posted on our board that he was there, and then said he heard from Sonny's assistant there "was a girl who requested the "Serenity Song"."

Yes, I was that girl!! A group of my blues dancing friends went. Just sorry I didn't post the information sooner! And we did meet Moses from SoCal Browncoats.

Sonny was extremely gracious and he apologized for not playing the request, but his band was LA based and didn't know the song. He even signed my Firefly DVD Box Set! I was so stoked. He and his band were amazing and dressed to the nines!

He's recovering from his hernia operation and Mr.Rhodes is preparing for his hip operation scheduled for the end of March. He has to replace both but is doing it in stages so that he can continue playing.

He says God, Family and Blues is what keeps him going and without all three he thinks he would die. And he's grateful for all his fans' support. I'm going to forward all the comments here to his MySpace site because he says he reads every single letter and writes back.

You can send him your well wishes at http://www.myspace.com/sonnystorch

I have a Londinium poster that was given to me by the Bedlam Bards last year right after the Writers Strike. It has been signed by 12 people. Still trying to get Joss' signature on it to sweeten the pot so to speak. I will list them for you.